Furnace draft-regulator.



F. NI. POWELL.

FURNACE DRAFT REGULATOR.

APPLICATION msu MAR. 9. me.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

j'grres. pou/@ narran arianna naann'r onirica.

FORREST IVI. POWELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TOJOI-IN P. CRANGLE AND ONE-FOURTH TO EMIL DAVIS, BOTH OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS.

1,213,9ell4i.

To al? whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FoRRnsT M. POWELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in FurnaceDraft-Regulaters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus arranged toautomatically regulate the draft of a heating furnace, and the inventionrefers more particularly to a clockcontrolled mechanism which may be setto operate at an early hour in the morning and which will act toautomatically close the coal-receiving door of the furnace andsimultaneously open the draft door so that an effective draft will beprovided to liven the fire and furnish the desired heat without thenecessity of personal attention to the furnace.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thecharacter described which is especially adapted for use with steamboilers or steam heating plants, and in which the draft devices of thefurnace are operatively associated with a. controlling clock mechanismand are also independently connected to the automatic steam-pressurecontrolled draft regulating means commonly found on boilers, theconnection to the clock mechanism being arranged to be broken and theconnection to said automatic regulating means beingl at the same timeestablished so that the operation of the clock mechanism will not onlyautomatically adjust the draft devices to effect a draft through thefurnace, but will also operatively connect said devices with theautomatic .regulating means by which the furnace is controlled duringthe daytime.

Another object of the invention is to provide an extremely simple andreliable apparatus for the purpose and one which may be manufacturedcheaply and may also be readily attached to any existing furnace withoutalteration of the latter.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improveddisengageable means for connecting the draft device to the clockmechanism.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application led March 9, 1916.

Serial No. 83,012.

Another object is to provideV improved means for closing the coal door.

Another object has reference to the means forming the connection betweenthe draft device and the automatic regulating means.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a perusal ofthe following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view showing in frontelevation a furnace equipped with a draft regulating apparatus embodyingthe features of my invention. Fig'. 2 is a fragmental side elevationlooking toward the left-hand side of F ig.l l. Figs. 3 and 4 arefragmental detail sectional views illustrating in different positionsthe connection between the draft doo'r and the automatic regulatingmeans. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the upper part of this connection.Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail View taken in the plane of line 6-6 of Fig.7 and illustrating the means providing a disengageable connectionbetween the draft device and the clocl-controlled opening means. Fig. 7is a horizontal sectional view illustrating said disengageahleconnecting means.

I have illustrated in the drawings and will herein'describe in detailthe preferred embodiment of my invention without any intention, however,of limiting the invention to the structure disclosed, except as recitedin the appended claims.

In the drawings, a boiler or furnace is illustrated by reference numeral10, 11 being the coal door hinged at 12 along one of its vertical edgesand having a projecting lug 13 on its opposite edge to coperate with theusual catch 14: (Fig. 2) on the furnace. The furnace further has a draftdevice in the form of a door 15 pivoted on a horizontal axis 16 andtending to swing by gravity into closed position. Mounted on the upperportion of the furnace is the usual steam-controlled draft-regulatingmeans which includes a forwardly projecting lever 17.

The lever 17 is connected to the lower portion of the draft door 15 bymeans which is preferably constructed as follows: A rod 18 engages theforward end of the lever and depends therefrom, said rod having` fixedthereon a collar or shoulder 19. A sleeve 20 Patented Jan. 30, 1917..

slidably receives the lower end of the rod and is arranged to be fixedto the rod by a set screw 21. A second rod 22 engages a bracket 23 fixedto the draft door near its lower edge and said second rod projectsupwardly slidably into the lower end of the sleeve 20. On the upper endof the second rod are fixed two spring dogs 24 having outwardly turnedupper ends to engage shoulders provided by opposite cut-away portions ofthe sleeve 20. For disengaging the dogs from said cut-away portions apair of spring arms 25 are provided, said arms having enlargementsarranged to engage the outturned ends of the dogs and move the latterinwardly. Y Y

The coal door 11 is arranged to be operated from the draft door by meansof an arm 26 pivoted to the catch 14 and a link 27 depending from saidarm and engaging in its lower end in a bracket 2S on the draft door.

The draft door is arranged to be automatically opened by an operatingmember in the form of a flexible element 29 connected at one end to saiddraft door and passing around a sheav'e 29a and at its other endassociated with clock mechanism, as, for example, an ordinary alarmclock 30, for controlling movement of said element. 1n thepreferredform, one end of the flexible element is attached to andarranged to be wound around the arbor 31 which constitutes the Windingkey of the alarm mechanism, although equivalent means may be provided.The clock 30 may be stationarily supported upon a bracket 32 on a wallof the building.

The means for connecting the flexible element to the draft doorcomprises a gripper 33 having two opposed jaws arranged to close upon anenlargement 34 (Fig. G) attached to the lower end of the flexibleelement 29, said jaws being normally held closed by a spring 35. Thegripper is connected to the draft door by a link 36 which detachablyengages a bracket 37 on the door. An operating device is stationarilymounted on the furnace and receives the gripper 33, said operatingdevice preferably being in the form of a ring 38 providing oppositesides arranged to engage the jaws in the upward movement of the gripperto open the jaws and release the flexible element.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: At night the releasingarms 25 are pressed inwardly to disengage the spring dogs 24 from thesleeve 20 which permits the draft door 15 to swing by gravity into fullyclosed position. The link 27, which during the day is disassociated fromthe arm 26 and bracket 28 and laid aside, is assembled with said partsand the coal door 11 is partially opened and left so with the lug 13resting upon. the arm 26. The alarm key arbor 31 of the clock 30 iswound up, and the gripper 33 is placed in the ring 3S and attached tothe lower end of the flexible element 29, and the link 3G is engagedwith the bracket 37, said gripper and link during the daytime beingdetached and laid aside. lVhen the alarm goes off in the morning, theflexible element 29 will be wound up and will draw the gripper 3Supwardly and open the draft door 15. ln the opening movement of thedraft door the arm 2G will be swung upwardly and the lug of the coaldoor 11 will slide down said arm to close said coal door. As the draftdoor continues its opening movement, the rod 22 will be elevated toraise the spring dogs 24 into operative association with the cut-awayshoulders on the sleeve 20, and shortly thereafter the gripper 33 willreach a position in which the ring 38 will bind upon the jaws of thegrippers and open said jaws to release the flexible element 29 so thatthe latter will have no further effect upon the draft door. lVhen thespring dogs 2l are in their operative association with the shoulders onthe sleeve 20, an effective operating connection is provided between thedraft door and the lever 17 of the automatic regulating means whichoperates during the daytime to control. the position of the draft doorand thereby regulate the draft through the furnace in a manner wellknown. The set screw 21 connecting the upper end of the sleeve to thedepending rod 1S provides means for adjusting the length of theconnection and thereby setting the draft door 15 at any positiondesired. The shoulder 19 is provided to form a stop for the upper end ofthe sleeve to indicate the proper position to set the sleeve at nightfor cooperation with the spring dogsl 24 when the clock mechanism opensthe draft in the morning.

1t will be noted that the connection bel tween the draft door and theclock'mechanism is separate and independent of the connection betweensaid draft door and the automatic regulating lever 17 so that means isprovided for automatically adjusting the draft devices in the morning tostart up the fire and at the same time an operative connection isestablished between the draft door and the automatic regulator forcontrolling the draft in the daytime.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a furnace havi'.

ing a coal door and a draft door and equipped with automaticdraft-regulating means, of mechanism arranged to automatr cally opensaid draft door, means extending directly between the two doors andarranged to close the coal door when the draft door is opened, and meansindependent of the last mentioned means and of said mechanism andoperable by the opening movement of said draft door to provide anindependent operating connection between the draft door and saidautomatic regulating means.

2. The combination with a furnace having a coal door and a draft doorand vequipped with automatic draft-regulating means, of a flexibleelement connected at one end to said draft door for opening the latter,mechanism arranged to wind up said flexible element, independent meansextending directly between said two doors and operable by openingmovement of the draft door for closing the coal door, means for breakingthe connection between the said flexible element and the draft door, andindependent means extending directly between said automaticdraft-regulating means and said draft door and operable by openingmovement of the latter to provide an operating connection forautomatically controlling the draft door in the daytime.

The combination with a furnace having automatic draft-regulating meansmounted at the upper portion thereof and including a pivoted lever, thefurnace also having a draft door in its lower portion, of a connectionbetween said draft door and said lever comprising a tube connected atits upper end to Said lever and depending therefrom and having oppositecut-away portions, a rod connected at its lower end to said draft doorand extending upwardly into said tube to slide in the latter, said rodbeing provided at its upper end with a pair of opposed spring dogsarranged to engage in said cut-away portions of the sleeve, andmechanism arranged to automatically open the draft door, the openingmovement of said door acting to raise said rod in its sleeve and causethe locking dogs to engage the cutaway portions, thereby providing anoperating connection between the automatic regulating means and thedraft door for operation in the daytime.

il. The combination with a furnace having a draft device and equippedwith automatic regulating means including a pivoted lever, of means forautomatically opening said draft device, a sleeve connected at its upperend with and depending from said lever and having opposed cut-awayportions, a rod connected at its lower end to said draft device andpassing upwardly into said sleeve and being slidable in the latter, apair of spring dogs carried bv the upper end of said rod and havingout-turned ends arranged to engage in said cut-away portions of thesleeve, and a pair of spring-mounted releasing devices carried by thesleeve and arranged to be pressed inwardly to engage and release saidspring` dogs from the cutaway portions of the sleeve.

5. The combination with a furnace having a draft door in its lowerportion and equipped with automatic draft-regulating means whichincludes a lever pivoted on the upper portion of the furnace, a rodconnected at its upper end and depending from one end of said lever, astop shoulder on Said rod, a sleeve receiving in its upper end the lowerend of said rod, said sleeve being arranged to abut against said stopshoulder, a set screw for rigidly securing said sleeve to the rod, asecond rod connected at its lower end to said draft door and passingupwardly slidably into the lower end of said sleeve, of a pair ofspring-locking dogs carried by the upper end of said second rod andarranged to engage parts on said sleeve to lock the latter to saidsecond rod, and means for automatically opening said draft door, wherebythe second rod will be slid upwardly in the sleeve and will carry thelocking device into operative position.

6. The combination with a furnace having automatic draft-regulatingmeans mounted at the upper portion thereof and including a pivotedlever, the furnace also having a draft door in its lower portion, of aconnection between said draft door and said lever comprising atelescoping tube and rod, the. latter equipped with spring dogs arrangedt0 lock the parts together, and mechanism for automatically opening saiddraft door, said telescoping parts being movable by the draft door inopening to carry said spring` dogs into locking position and therebyprovide an operative connection between said lever and said door forcontrolling the latter in the daytime.

7. The combination with a furnace equipped with automaticdraft-regulating means and having a draft device, of means forming adirect connection between said automatic regulating means and saiddevice and comprising telescoping members having parts arranged tointerlock in the opening movement of the draft device, mechanism foropening the draft device, and means for breaking the connection betweensaid device and said mechanism after the parts of said telescoping meanshave interloclied.

8. |The combination with a furnace having a draft device and equippedwith an automatic draftwregulating means, a flexible element connectedat one end to said draft dcvice, mechanism arranged to cause said clement to move endwise and open said draft device, means operating in theopening movement of the draft device for breaking its connection withthe flexible element, and means providing an independent connectionbetween the draft device and said automatic regulating means andcomprising relatively movable parts arranged to be carried intooperative position in the opening movement of the draft device. i

9. The combination with a furnace having a draft device, of an operatingelement connected to said device, mechanism arranged to cause saidelement to be moved to open said draft device, means for breaking theconnection between said element and said device, and means which isbrought into operative condition by the opening movement of said devicefor controlling the device when saidconnection with the operatingelement is broken.

10. The combination with a furnace having a draft device, of a flexibleelement, mechanism connected to one end of said element for drawing upthe latter, means for detachably connecting the other end of the elementto the draft device, and means arranged to operate the last mentionedmeans in the opening movement of the draft device to disconnect theflexible element.

11. The combination with a furnace having a draft device, of a flexibleelement, means associated with one end of said element and with thedraft device, whereby endwise movement of said element will open thedraft device, said means being operable in the opening movement of saiddevice to release said element, and mechanism for causing endwisemovement of said element.

12. The combination with a furnace having a draft device, of a flexibleelement, mechanism for controlling longitudinal movement of saidelement, a gripper having a pair of jaws arranged to hold one end ofsaid element, said gripper being connected to said draft device, andmeans acting during the opening of the draft device for operating saidgripper jaws to release said flexible element.

13. The combination with a furnace having a draft device, of means forautomatically voperating said device, said means including adisengageable portion arranged to be operated during the movement ofsaid draft device for breaking connection between the latter and itsoperating means.

14. The combination with a furnace having a draft door, of a flexibleelement, means for drawing said element endwise, a gripping deviceconnected to said door and arranged to grip said element, and meansacting in the opening movement of said door for operating said grippingdevice to release said elemen 15. The combination with a furnace havinga draft door, of an operating member therefor, a gripper comprising apair of spring-pressed jaws connected to said door and arranged to gripsaid member, and stationary means into engagement with which said jawsare carried in the opening movement of said door for opening the jaws torelease said member.

16. The combination with a furnace having a draft door, of an operatingmember therefor, a gripper comprising a pair of spring-closed jawsconnected to said door and arranged to grip said member, and a devicestationarily mounted on the furnace and providing opposite sides betweenwhich the jaws of said gripper are carried in the opening movement ofthe door, said device being arranged to operate the jaws and cause themto release said member.

17. The combination with a furnace having a coal door and a draft door,the coal door being hinged along one vertical edge and the draft doorbeing pivoted on a horizontal aXis, of an arm pivoted to the furnaceadjacent to the edge of the coal door opposite its hinged edge andarranged to support the former edge to maintain the door in partiallyopened position, a link connecting said arm to said draft door, wherebythe opening of the latter will raise said arm and cause the coal door toslide down said arm into closed position, and mechanism forautomatically opening said draft door.

1S. The combination with a furnace having a coal door, of an arm pivotedto the furnace adjacent to the door and projecting outwardly therefrom,the door having a portion arranged to rest on said arm when the door isin partially opened position, and means for automatically swinging saidarm upwardly to cause the door to slide down the arm into closedposition.

19. The combination with a furnace having a coal door, of a membermounted adjacent to said door, the latter being arranged to rest uponsaid member, and mechanism for raising the member and causing the doorto slide down the member into closed position.

20. The combination with a furnace having a coal inlet opening and adoor pivoted along one of its vertical edges and arranged to close saidopening, of a member mounted on the furnace adjacent to the oppositeedge of said door and beneath a portion of the door, the door beingarranged to rest upon said member, and mechanism for raisingLT saidmember to cause the door to move by gravity along said member intoclosed position.

21. The combination with a furnace having a draft device. of means forautomatically opening said device, and automatic regulating meansindependently connected to said device, the parts being operable by saiddraft-opening means to move the automatic regulating means intooperative position and to break the connection between the draft-openingmeans and the draft device.

22. The combination with a furnace having a coal door and a draft doorand equipped with automatic draft-regulating means, of mechanismarranged to automatically open said draft door and close said coal door,means for automatically breaking the connection between said mechanismand CII said doors, and independent means to provide an operatingconnection between said draft door and said automatic regulating means.`

23. rlhe combination with a furnace having a draft device andequippedwith automatic regulating means, of means arranged to automatically opensaid draft device and then disconnect therefrom, and means operable inthe opening movement of said draft device to provide an operativeconnection between the latter and said automatic regulating means.

24. rlhe combination with a furnace havn ing a draft device and equippedwith automatic regulating means, of means for connecting said draftdevice to said automatic regulating means, and means mounted separatelyfrom and acting independently of said connecting means for automaticallyopening said draft device, the last mentioned means acting to set saidconnecting means in its operative condition.

ln testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

FGRREST M. POWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, "byaddresiaing the Commissioner o' Patente. Washington. D. C.

